Construction has finally started on the "Big House" (formerly Bunny Ranch)

[rmcelwee]

After years of planning, we have finally started construction on the Big House. We retired from Charleston SC, bought 30 acres seven hours away on a mountain in TN. We moved into the "Little House" (700 sqft mobile home) three years ago. It took six trucks of concrete to pour the foundation yesterday. We also installed the second set of 30 solar panels on the workshops. Today they delivered the first half of the foam blocks for the ICF walls. This is getting exciting!

 

[harley]

Good luck! Building is always an adventure. I hope the weather and the supply chains work in your favor.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

Wow, when I read your post that the Bunny Ranch was renovating, I got all excited:

Dennis Hof's BunnyRanch Legal Nevada Brothels & Cathouses

Welcome to Dennis Hof's Moonlite Bunny Ranch, premier legal Nevada brothels offering legalized prostitution, famously featured on HBO's CatHouse.

www.bunnyranch.com

False Alarm.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Congratulations. I'm looking forward to progress reports.

 

[Koolau]

I recall when you showed us your land and talked about your plans. So glad you are able to get started. Feel free to show us your progress as you go. Looks like a nice property.

 

[pb4uski]

I looked at ICF when we rebuilt. Didn't do it because our builder wasn't familiar with them. We ended up going with stick-built with 2x4 exterior walls with strapping horizontally and then sheathing on top of that with spray foam. The spray foam oozed behind the 2x4 studs between the studs and the sheathing. So no thermal bridging other than where the studs and strapping intersect. Very solid wall after the foam was put in.

However, after that a friend built homes in Florida and Vermont using ICF. Very nice. Are you one level? Does your builder have experience with ICF?

 

[dixonge]

Found the mower in your photo LOL

Also, why is the treeless part of your property in the shape of a horse's head?

 

[rmcelwee]

Are you one level? Does your builder have experience with ICF?

Yes, 5500 sqft ranch. We had a GC that we really liked but he had only done one ICF before (unbelievable 9000 sqft mansion with hundreds of acres and maybe a 50 acre pond). We ended up using another guy who has been doing them for 20 years. He is around 1.5 hrs from us but said he would take the job.

 

[pb4uski]

Wow. 5500sf. That's a lot of house.

 

[rmcelwee]

Found the mower in your photo LOL

Also, why is the treeless part of your property in the shape of a horse's head?

Good eyes finding the mower! It was that shape when we purchased it. You are the first person to ever comment on the shape but I have always thought it looked like that. The cleared part is around 14 acres. The darker part around the edges is where I convinced my wife to let some of it grow back into woods (you can't see a lot of this in the picture because of the angle. It used to take her two days to mow but now she can knock it out in around seven hours.

 

[rmcelwee]

Wow. 5500sf. That's a lot of house.

Yes, we decided to upsize instead of downsize. She was a little worried about cleaning as we get older and I told her that robots will be doing that for us in a few years. It has a very open floorplan, just two bedrooms.

 

[Route246]

Curious about finding labor to do your build. Here in NorCal it costs at least $800 sq/ft just for the construction, not including planning and permits. We are still in planning for a modest remodel, facelift and small attached ADU. Time is not on our side as it is difficult to find trades people and when you do the hourly rates are off the charts.

 

[rmcelwee]

Here in NorCal it costs at least $800 sq/ft just for the construction, not including planning and permits.

Sorry, I can't help you. You live in the wrong place.

 

[skyking1]

congrats on beginning.

 

[LTSTRYAGIN]

congratulations it brings back memories for me and what we built
all the best for a smooth build
might want to reconsider your Albert Einstein quote now...??

 

[rmcelwee]

might want to reconsider your Albert Einstein quote now...??

This will hopefully be just a little bump in the road. A year from now I will be sitting in the sunroom, drinking my coffee and watching the deer walk by. I'll be in Nirvana (with remainder)!

 

[Koolau]

With your set up, I would be tempted to take up "sport flying" for which you don't need a long runway nor a medical certificate.

Odd, I hadn't noticed the horse head until someone mentioned it.

All the best on your build.

By the way, the robots are already here. We have a "Shark" but you can also buy a Roomba.

 

[pb4uski]

^^^ We recently bought a MOVA P10. It vaccums and mops with two circular mop pads that spin. The robot itself has a dirtbin, clean water reservoir and dirty water reservoir. It returns to the dock as needed to empty the dirt bin into the larget dirt bin in the dock, empty the dirty water reservoir to the dirty water tank in the dock, fill the clean water reservoir from the clean water tank in the dock, clean the mop pads with clean water and suck the dirty water from cleaning the mop pads into the dirty water tank, blow drys the mop pads and recharges the battery.

All I have to do is to occasionally empty the dirt bin and dirty water tanks in the dock, refill the clean water tank in the dock and refill the cleaning solution in the dock.

Impressive so far. It does a really good job of cleaning our floors (all hard surface... solid wood or tile). The sweeper brush and one of the two mop pads are on arms that swing out to clean along walls.

 

[old medic]

congrads...

 

[pjigar]

Congratulations and good luck. I am glad that you are living on-site during construction. Do a daily inspection on construction and report everything to GC before it is too late. Or just be visibly around the workers when work is in progress.

I have acted as GC for several projects (metal roofing, framing, concrete, shop building, etc.) on our property. The quality of work radically goes up if I am just around when the workers are working. If I am away from the action for more than 2 hours then they start cutting corners! YMMV.

 

[Fotodog]

Congratulations, that’s a beautiful part of the country. I just visited my daughter and her family in eastern Tennessee just outside of Jonesborough. They moved from Phoenix after a lot of research because they wanted a better place to raise their kids, and fortunately they both have great jobs that allow them to work from home. They love it, and are already taking about buying a piece of land and building their forever home.

 

[Jimmie]

Congrats! Super smart going ICF and solar panels. Your power consumption needs will be well covered.

 

[dixonge]

Wow, when I read your post that the Bunny Ranch was renovating, I got all excited:

Dennis Hof's BunnyRanch Legal Nevada Brothels & Cathouses

Welcome to Dennis Hof's Moonlite Bunny Ranch, premier legal Nevada brothels offering legalized prostitution, famously featured on HBO's CatHouse.

www.bunnyranch.com

False Alarm.

Well that brought back some memories.

The last time I saw Dennis Hof was when he was doing a bit of a tour for his reality TV stuff. Vinnie Paul introduced him to all the guests at The Clubhouse, Vinnie's strip club in Dallas. We were sitting with the club manager who was a neighbor of ours.

A couple of weeks later our friend, the manager, gave us matching terry cloth robes with the Bunny Ranch logo for our anniversary (or maybe a birthday, or Christmas, don't remember). We wore those things for years. Very comfy. Good times...

 

[pacergal]

Congratulations! Keep us posted.

 

[rmcelwee]

Getting another load of the world's most expensive Styrofoam. It is hard to believe that what you see here has already cost NINE TIMES more than what we paid for our first house/land.